Hoping to calm any unrest about the departure of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke from the film franchise, everybody associated with the vampire tale is speaking up!

The person chosen to helm New Moon, director Chris Weitz just wrote the following letter to the fans:

Dear fans of Twilight, New Moon, Bella, Edward and Jacob,

In the past few days I have been involved in a whirlwind romance with Stephenie Meyers' extraordinary books.

And I am very grateful to have received her permission to protect New Moon in its translation from the page to the screen.

For fans of the books and of the film of Twilight, this may come as an unexpected twist. So I want to write briefly to try to put you at ease, and to give you reason to hope for and expect the best.

For the last decade of my career as a director, I have chosen to make adaptations of complex and involved works of literature. This has always begun with the love of a book and its characters, story, and theme; and it has always involved a respect of and responsiveness to the feelings of other people who loved those books.

When I saw the film of Twilight, I was alternately entranced and left hungry for more. I was also struck by the extraordinary passion for the characters, story and theme that was evident in the people sitting in the seats around me. My job is to live up to that devotion.

Like many of you, I am a fan of Catherine Hardwicke's work. I can't really say much about why she is not doing New Moon because I wasn't involved in those decisions. But I can say that I will devote myself to making the very best and most faithful version of New Moon that can be brought to the screen. To those who doubt that as a male director I can capture Bella's experience, I can only say that emotion is universal and that my work has often involved working with some of the most talented actresses in the world.

For the rest, the proof will have to be in the pudding. But I promise to remain responsive to your hopes and fears.

I thank you for this opportunity and for your faith.

Very best,

Chris Weitz

And Summit Entertainment, the film's producers and distributor, is also speaking out.

They say:

Summit Entertainment announced today that filmmaker Chris Weitz has been hired to direct the second film in the studio's TWILIGHT film franchise. The film, NEW MOON, is based on the second book in author Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster book series. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production.

Weitz, an Acadamy Award®-nominated writer, director and producer, has a proven track record working with a broad range of material dealing with youth-oriented characters, fantasy and action. As such, he has the potential to bring alive in NEW MOON the dimensions and depth that fans will demand in the next installment.

Feig stated, "We love Stephenie Meyer's fantastic TWILIGHT series. Thinking long and hard about how to turn NEW MOON into the amazing movie we know it will be, and working with Stephenie Meyer to find the right candidate, we are thrilled to announce Chris Weitz as director of the film. Chris very much understands the world of NEW MOON and has the skill set required to bring the book to glorious life as a movie. We think he will be an excellent steward of Stephenie Meyer's vision."

"I am honored to have been entrusted with shepherding NEW MOON from the page to the screen," said Weitz. "The extraordinary world that Stephenie has created has millions of fans, and it will be my duty to protect on their behalf the characters, themes and story they love. This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book."

Weitz previously penned ABOUT A BOY, which led to an Academy Award Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2002, and adapted and directed THE GOLDEN COMPASS (2007), which was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Additionally, Weitz co-wrote the 1998 animated film ANTZ and went on to produce the major box office success AMERICAN PIE and executive produced the film's two theatrical sequels. Weitz also produced IN GOOD COMPANY starring Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace and executive produced AMERICAN DREAMZ starring Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid and Mandy Moore.

And, not to be left out….

Twilight author Stephenie Meyer herself has addressed the issue.

She says:

Hey guys,

There's been a lot of worry and speculation on the boards lately, and I want to let you know what's going on.

First of all, like you, I'm sad that Catherine is not continuing on with us for New Moon. I'm going to miss her, not just as a brilliant director, but also as a friend. She has such a distinct, authentic voice that did amazing things for Twilight. I'm looking forward to every movie she does in the future.

And she didn't leave us empty handed. We still get the benefits of her amazing casting and the beautiful visual world she created. This foundation puts us in a good place for New Moon.

Summit Films is moving forward with a new director for New Moon. They've asked Chris Weitz, director of American Pie, About a Boy, and The Golden Compass, to join us, and I am very pleased to announce that he's agreed to be a part of our Twilight world. I've had the chance to talk to Chris, and I can tell you that he is excited by the story and eager to keep the movie as close to the book as possible. He is also very aware of you, the fans, and wants to keep you all extremely happy. (Torches and pitchforks are not going to be necessary.)

I'm excited to work with Chris and I think he brings a lot to the table, not the least of which for me is that he wrote the screenplay for and directed one of my favorite movies of all time, About a Boy. I'm really looking forward to seeing his vision for New Moon.

it was long, i skimmed through it.. but i didnt think the first movie, twilight, was done overly well. it was casted well for the most part, but i thought the take on the book to the movie was a little off… mainly all the ethnic cast memebers.. like really, a small town of 3000 isnt going to be that multi cultural.. lol but seriously, it will be better, or average liek the first.. i mean sure they increased the budget, but that increase just goes to paying the actors since they got quite a huge increase.. well robert did, who knows about kristen… lets hope not. robert makes the movie, as does jasper and emmett, they were phenomenal!

what the hell are thse thingd/people meant to be in the pic behind rob? theyre in all the pics from the london premier..and i'm confused by the them…however Rob is the best thing since sliced bread…so hot!!

oh and ps. robert doesnt even know who you are perez, so he def doesnt heart you! lol he calls you paris hilton, and the only reason he knows that you love him is because his mom told him.. but he has never checked out your site, and doubts he ever would… lol but nice try

Nope. Come here to talk to the posse. Don't care about vampires… Too many in this world trying to suck the fun out of everything. Selfish assholes who will suck you dry if you let them. This includes IMPOSTORS!

If they beef up the Bella Jacob romance I'll puke. I'm only interested in seeing Rob so dont care as logn as they give him more scenes. In all honesty I;d rather Rob jumped ship and did more interesting work than this badly scripted rubbish.

Chris is sorta meh for me, but I'll keep an open mind. But Summit CAN FUCK ITSELF STILL. Cheap asses with their 50 million budget, gonna make poor Jacob wear a PartyCity Werewolf costume from the sale bin……

oh, and they better make edward show some ass at the end of New Moon when he's just wearing a sheet over himself and ready to commit suicide. If you are going to give us shitty fx again, Summit, at least let us see a little Pattinson Pie ass!

I'm sick of Summit being so reverential to Meyer's pile of crap. The mid section of New Moon is so boring. Just give us more Cullens and Edward in Italy and I'll be happy. Bella and Jacob are mind numbingly boring.

Most people who have an sense are happy that whats her name left. She is not a very good film maker. The problem is they have an equally just has bad or maybe worst film maker for a replacement. I hope he does a good job, but I think that he is in over his head. Perez keep the post shorter, that is way to much to read on the quick.

I wish Rob's manager could get him out of this awful franchise. He's too talented for this garbage. The guy they have picked for Jacob is such a douch bag. I hope rob's hardly in this so he can do other more important work instead. So want him to play Jeff Buckley in a bio pic.

Gotta give the props to Chris Weistz. I liked his other films and I have faith in him knowing he is gonna give it all he got to make sure New Moon is going to be a better film than Catherine's. I have nothing aganist her but I thought the film should have done it alot better than that. I'm a hardcore Twilight fan and I just felt that the film could have been made better. Am just saying! Good luck Chris and we look forward to watch your work in progress up til the film is released.

Perez–Of course I like your blog but come on, Robert Pattinson is ladies' man and he will always remain like that. Concerate your obessesion with Zac Efron and let us–straight girls/grown women Twilight fans–drool/obessed with Robert Pattinson. M'kay?

I LOVED "About a Boy" and thoroughly enjoyed "The Golden Compass," even though I delayed seeing it because it didn't look interesting at first. I would have been thrilled to see Alfonso Cuaron directing, but am incredibly happy with Chris Weitz. Catherine was GREAT for "Thirteen," but I think she made Twilight too off-the-charts Indie. I was praying for a new director on "New Moon." Yay!

I thought Twilight sucked and could have been much better- so thank god someone else is directing New Moon- I love the twilight series so I'm hoping this time Chris will make a good movie and not just something everyones going to see just because they love the books!

well its nice that stephanie spoke up. at least we know that she's paying attention to whats going on. HOWEVER, that still doesn't mean that all of our worry has been in vain. what about the time that they are willing to spend on new moon. they need to take their time and STICK TO THE BOOK.

Chris Weitz should be drawn & quartered for what he did to the Golden Compass film adaptation. Looks like Summit don't care that he totally slaughtered the Golden Compass and want him to do a number on New Moon. Sad, sad, very sad.

i don't care what Chris Weintz says, I'm scared for this movie. The Golden Compass was such a disappointment and didn't give the book justice. I didn't particularly adore Twilight, I'm a big fan of the book, but was pretty disappointed by the movie. It felt really corny and awkward and way too much unintentional comedy because of the awkwardness…. But now I feel like there's no hope for these Twilight movies.

I don't know what ppls are so mad about, the movie wasn't THAT great. Yeah, robert pattinson was sexy as hell, and the other characters were hot too but all in all, it was not the best movie of the year. I'm glad somebody else is directing the next movie, maybe he will make it as good as the books are!

i think it is great that they are getting a new director for new moon
i think everyone who read the book can agree the movie was of course amazing but in no way did it live up to the book AT ALL
the book new moon will hopefully be better translated into a movie by chris and i think it is great for him to be making new moon and since he has so many other successes he can not fail!

I'm not completely opposed to Chris Weitz, but I'm extremely upset at Summit. Why does New Moon only have a $50 million budget?! They're a bunch of greedy corporate asses, who only care about capitalizing on the craze and are not concerned about the quality of the film at all. WAKE UP. If New Moon is not an improvement or is worse than Twilight, people won't be receptive to the future movies. As for Chris Weitz, I'm not overly enthusiastic about him as a director since I feel he messed up Golden Compass completely. The Dark Materials series are complex and theological and he TOTALLY screwed it up with special effects and not enough heart.

…Chris weitz. Who cares about Chris weitz. I want to know why about the articles I'm seeing quoting Ryan Seacrest talking about executives not bringing in Taylor Lautner as Jacob because they paid Rob too much.

If they don't Bring Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black they should be expecting a mob outside of their studio and even more of a hokey fail movie. There are several petitions already going around in support of Lautner. Why can't summit just shell out some of the 150 (plus) million they got from Twilight (that doesn't even include the income from other countries it hasn't even opened in).

What a dumbass way to screw with Team Jacob. Not everyone is blinded by Edward's fucking albino sparkles and Gap outfits.

Suck it up summit. You already put Lautner's face onscreen. Pulling him out and replacing him would make the movie look unbelievable and sucky.

i didn't like Catherines work, she changed too many things, and left out the good parts. there needed to be way more voice over work done with Bella, it just felt odd to me.
especially since i seen the movie BEFORE i read the book, i realized how poorly the movie was made, even on a low budget, there are no escuses.

It doesn't matter. As long as they keep KRISTEN-I-Have-About-As-Much-Personality-As-A-Stick-of-Butter-STEWART, it'll suck. Which is too bad cause these movies have a lot of potential. But she is the WORST actress I've EVER seen. She is so monotonous and has NO talent. In all her interviews she is so rude and stuck up. I say get rid of Kristen, or in other words The Man, and get someone who actually has some talent.

Re: JoBros Out Vampires In! –
wow. do you know anything about the book?? it's ethnic because there is an Indian RESERVATION.
seriously. are you racist or something? I liked the multicultural cast- and I think it made it more plausible that the CUllens wouldn't stick out as much.

I think they did right by picking Chris Weitz. I never thought (as a woman) that you need a female director to do these movies just a good director. About a Boy is a great romantic movie and Golden Compass was very well done. If they would just through some more money at it for the effects, not like they won't get it back.

New Moon is,like most, my favorite of the series. It's also the most pivotal book of the four. Just don't make it cheesy and over the top like Twilight. These movies have such great potential.

No! They are going to fuck up the movie and I am not going to see it, nor will I pay for my kids to. It sucks…. if they are bitching about the end result of the first one, it is their own damned fault for not giving her a bigger budget and now they are booting her and upping the budget, changing cast, etc.

i say they need to boot out the writer!! she did not go with the book at all. she left out so many things that were relevant.

casting was great; hopefully chris weitz does a good job…

and i say if they're going to do breaking dawn, they definitely need to cast MEGAN FOX as BELLA CULLEN [vampire] because her and robert would look super hot together and reading the book, the first thing that came to mind was Megan Fox.

Twilight schmilight pass me an asswipe. I keep a stack of these cheap paperback Anne Rice rip-offs beside all my turd stools for anyone and everyone to wipe their asses on. That's about all they're worth and all they're good for.

Thanks for all the info Perez… I do feel a little better, but they still need a bigger budget. And I really hope they dont replace Taylor Lautner. I don't care if hes 6'5 or not, he just has to look like he can kick some ass! Get the kid a trainer!

Twilight schmilight pass me an asswipe. I keep plenty copies of this cheap trashy Ann Rice ripped-off garbage right beside all the turd stools in my house.
So everyone can wipe their ass with this tommyrot.
That's about all it's worth and all it's good for.

I stopped caring after meeting the so called "Bella" in Twilight. It was gut wrenching watching Kristen try to act. She totally ruined the movie and gave me a bad aftertaste. I'm not even interested in watching New Moon. That is, unless they get a new Bella.

omg. I just read that whole fucking article. what a waste of like, ten minutes or something. All that was confirmed is that their IS a new director that IS Chris Weitz. And their stupid ass feelings no one gives a shit about. Besides, Twilight WAS NOT all that great anyways. Get the hell over it. Maybe this director can do something better with the franchise. And what about Jacob? Isn't that actor getting the boot or something? Why cant they give an update on that?

Okay this is what I think, maybe after reading all notes each the director, the company and the author put out there is merely a concern for authenticity for the film. Yes the first movie was good, but visually could be much better for the next film.I understand what the director is trying to say ,I can understand his creativity aspect, just I am only concern if the style of filming will be better than the previous director of the Twilight series. My only issue I have on this article is Stephanie Meyers is trying to be like J.K.Rowling and her series with the Harry Potter movies. Ever since those movies have come out more and more movies on books have been coming out which is fine, but see I think there is more reason ,it's making more money for the "epic novels" or just the intentions are different.To me this a money making business and that's all it is.
Even though they maybe using good actors/actresses I can give them one credit that they are embracing the British culture and Canadian culture ,rather than using High A list celebs in America .

haha the only reason this was even posted was to have an excuse to put up a picture of the fucking amazing Robert Pattinson.. but i will ask the same question as everyone else.. will some one please answer: who the fuck are those creeps behind him

I have read all the books, and Twilight isnt my favorite one of them, at all Breaking Dawn is. I really hope they make that one into a movie. I didnt like the movie because of the director, I like the other movies shes done, but this one is supposed to be a bit more magical and less documentary feeling. It was good, I will watch Twilight again and again, but only because of the books, I feel like i have a relationship with the characters. Im an more than excited about the new director of New Moon! Hopefully he will bring the magic to this series!